The Phnom Penh Post
Newest ASEAN fund may be out of reach for Cambodian govt
The ASEAN Infrastructure Fund, the largest pooling of financial resources among Southeast Asia’s 10-member bloc, held its first board meeting in Manila last week, but the extent to which Cambodia will borrow from the non-concessional fund has yet to be determined, experts said. ASEAN countries and ...
China Exim Bank to put $235m in steel, media
The Export-Import Bank of China (Exim Bank) planned to invest US$235 million in two Cambodian mega projects, one of which was the modernisation of a TV station that one analyst said might not be necessary given the country’s level of development. During a meeting with Prime Minister ...
Talks on maid MoU slated for summer
A Memorandum of Understanding aimed at protecting maids sent to Malaysia may make headway in the next two months, a government official has said. Secretary of State for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs San Arun said a meeting with Malaysian officials on an MoU is expected ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050755997/National-news/maid-mou-inching-forward.html
Loran Imex to launch $2m rice mill in 2013
Loran Import-Export Co Ltd, Cambodia’s largest milled-rice exporter, is scheduled to start construction on a new rice mill this month worth more than US$2 million, according to the company’s General Director Lim Bunheng. The mill will help reduce the flow of Cambodia’s paddy rice into neighbouring ...
Chut Wutty investigation wraps following shooting charge
An unintentional murder charge handed to security guard Ran Boroth on Friday for allegedly killing military police officer In Rattana has left rights groups asking why officials initially claimed the deceased man had committed suicide. Only three days after it was established by Prime Minister Hun ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050755993/National-news/case-closed-in-shooting.html
Lueckenhausen elected at IBC
One woman who has been actively involved in the development of Cambodia’s business climate is Janet Lueckenhausen of Functional Engineering. She’s been working closely with Cambodia’s biggest foreign-owned companies since 2008. Now she’s shifted in her role from executive director of International Business Chamber of Cambodia ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050756007/Business/lueckenhausen-elected-at-ibc.html
Little spark for electric motos
Battery-powered scooters are capturing an increasing share of the Asia Pacific’s two-wheeled transport market, according to a recent study, but scooter retailers in Phnom Penh yesterday said Cambodians still opt for the petrol-burning version. By 2018, about 65.5 million electric scooters worth some US$382 million will ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050756009/Business/little-spark-for-electric-motos.html
Pailin casino Dreamworld opens May 9
Entertainment Gaming Asia, an American Stock Exchange-listed company with a regional presence in both Cambodia and the Philippines, will launch its Dreamworld Casino in Pailin province on Wednesday, according to a company statement. ...
Boeung Kak rep infighting gets its day in court
Six Boeung Kak village representatives will appear in Phnom Penh Municipal Court accused of threatening to kill their one-time representative Ly Mom, who was spoke on their behalf from 2007 until last year. Although no charges have been laid, Ly Mom is demanding $10,000 from each ...
ICT growth continues
The expansion of Cambodia’s information and communications technology sector was highlighted at the ICT Expo on Diamond Island yesterday, as the sector’s bellwether companies continue to eye the Kingdom. Sony Corp, which took part in the eighth annual expo for the first time this year, set ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050455965/Business/ict-growth-continues.html
PPWSA slide continues, as price sees correction
Sellers have dominated the Cambodia Securities Exchange for the last seven days of trading, and the downward trend for the single stock, Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, was expected to continue into next week, experts said. PPWSA closed down 4.6 per cent yesterday at 7,250 riel ...
Families ask PM to help end dispute
About 500 families from three communes in Siem Reap province’s Chi Kraeng district are seeking the prime minister’s intervention in a dispute with a rubber company over 1,000 hectares of land. Siem Reap provincial governor Chan Sophal said on Wednesday that Cambodian People’s Party lawmaker Seang ...
Union leader hurt in strike
Thousands of garment workers went on strike yesterday demanding higher wages, fees for transportation and housing, and in one case, the elimination of smelly odours caused by a fish farm near their factory. Workers burned tyres and one union leader was allegedly assaulted with an electric ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050355951/National-news/union-leader-hurt-in-strikes.html
Timbergreen official questioned in Chut Wutty shooting
The “company” that military police have declined to identify but said sent staff to confront activist Chut Wutty shortly before he was shot last Thursday is Timbergreen, a firm the slain activist had attempted to expose for illegal logging. Documents obtained by the Post yesterday and sources have ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050355957/National-news/company-man-arrested.html
Bokor resort slated to bolster Kampot tourism
Kampot officials are looking to the Bokor Mountain Resort, a US$1 billion project that opens today, to drive tourism growth in the burgeoning seaside destination. The provincial Tourism Department said the number of domestic visitors to Kampot had risen 120 per cent to 338,000 in the ...
Talks on for Cambodian tablet
Mobile payment company Wing was in talks on partnering with a US technology firm that plans to assemble Android tablets in Cambodia, in what could be another step away from the country’s staple manufactured good – garments. Although a final partnership agreement had yet to made ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050355945/Business/talks-on-for-cambodian-tablet.html
Trade with Vietnam climbs
Export to Vietnam climbed more than 57 per cent year on year in the first quarter of 2012 as farmers looked for alternative destinations for products that went to Thailand last year. The primarily agricultural exports to Cambodia’s eastern neighbour were worth US$201.5 million, up from ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050355944/Business/trade-with-vietnam-climbs.html
Water minister urges Laos to halt Xayaburi
Cambodia has urged Laos to halt construction of the controversial Xayaburi hydro dam project in the country’s north, a letter obtained by the Post yesterday reveals. “Preliminary construction on Xayaburi dam has continued despite the lack of regional agreement,” Minister of Water Resources and Cambodia National Mekong Committeechairman Lim ...
Chut Wutty death to be examined by committee
A joint investigative committee will be established to re-examine the killing of activist Chut Wutty and military police officer In Rattana, the head of the armed forces told the Post yesterday, after providing his own version of the incident to radio. Pressure from the families of victims and ...
Seed selection crucial, experts tell growers
Agricultural experts are urging Cambodian rice growers to choose seeds that can withstand drought and submersion in deep water in an attempt to make the country’s rice industry more competitive. Awareness of rice-seed selection was limited among farmers in the Kingdom, despite the importance of the ...
Port in Kampot to turn province into regional trade hub
Kampot Port Co will break ground on a Kampot port in September, company officials said yesterday. The port will be an important part of a long-delayed Kampot Special Economic Zone (KSEZ), which is hoped to revitalise trade and commerce in the province. Vinh Huor, president of the ...
Battambang investors bankroll cassava processing plant
Investors in Cambodia’s northeast on Monday announced an investment in a cassava-processing plant in Battambang province. Prak Phoung Kesoa, assistant CEO at Battambang Agro-Industry, said yesterday that the plant would be 100 per cent Cambodian owned ...
Toll Royal derails regional projects
The unclear future of Cambodia’s national railway, following Toll Royal Railways’ suspension of operations on March 31, has cast doubt not only on the oft-delayed redevelopment project but also on a larger build-out expected to connect much of Asia. Toll Royal, a joint venture by Australian ...
Labour firm staff sentenced
The director and employees of a maid recruitment agency were handed sentences of up to five years by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday and ordered to pay compensation for illegally detaining an under-aged girl. Presiding judge Duch Kimsorn said Century Manpower’s director Oung Sakirin, chief of administration ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012050155893/National-news/labour-firm-staff-sentenced.html